The IAEA reiterates its warnings of a possible nuclear accident at the Ukrainian plant in Zaporizhia

First modification: 09/10/2022 – 02:06

“This is totally unacceptable. This cannot continue,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on September 9 in a statement accompanied by a video message, calling for the “immediate cessation of bombing in the area” of the Zaporizhia NPP.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Friday, September 9, a “total power cut” in the Ukrainian city of Energodar, where the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is located, due to a bombing. A situation that “compromises the security of operations,” denounced the entity.

For weeks, turmoil has surrounded Europe’s largest power station, occupied by Russian troops, which has suffered multiple attacks for which kyiv and Moscow blame each other.

“The electrical infrastructure that supplies the city has been destroyed by the attacks on the thermal power plant, which has caused a total blackout of water and electricity,” said Grossi, who was briefed by the two UN experts on the spot.

“Given the intensified shelling, which is relentless, it is unlikely that it will be possible to restore reliable power outside the plant,” added the IAEA chief, who visited the site in early September.

The only working reactor could close

Under these conditions, the Ukrainian operator Energoatom is “considering closing the only reactor in operation”, which currently produces the electricity necessary to cool the nuclear fuel and guarantee the safety of the site.

If this happens, all plant systems will have to rely on diesel-powered emergency generators, the Vienna-based agency warned.

In addition, due to the “dramatic circumstances facing the people of Energodar”, the necessary personnel to maintain the security of the site may no longer be available.

A few days after an alarmist report, Rafael Grossi reiterates his concern: “It is an unsustainable and increasingly fragile situation.”

“A nuclear power plant must never be an instrument of war. Its fate must not be decided by military means. The consequences of such actions are too serious. The IAEA is in the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and can facilitate the implantation of the area. There is no time to lose,” he concluded.

Russian troops took control of the plant on March 4. It has six nuclear reactors, each with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, some 10,000 employees operating it, and produced 20% of Ukraine’s electricity before the Russian invasion.

“The Russians look for the pro-Ukrainians there and persecute them”

In other news this Friday, September 9, the head of the Ukrainian operator of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Petro Kotin, denounced abuses perpetrated by Russian forces against employees.

“With the occupation, a regime of police harassment of personnel has gradually been established. The situation is now very difficult, with torture, beatings and kidnappings,” Kotine told the AFP news agency.

He claimed that two people had been “beaten to death” by Russian forces. “A diver was captured and ended up in hospital unconscious. He died three hours later,” while a bomb killed another employee and a driver, he continued.

“The Russians look for the pro-Ukrainians there and persecute them. People are psychologically destroyed,” Petro Kotin also said. “We don’t know where ten people are. They were taken away and since then we have no information about their whereabouts,” he continued.

Russia consistently denies committing abuses in Ukraine, instead accusing the Ukrainian authorities of committing crimes against the population, using civilians as human shields.

With AFP, EFE and Reuters